Ignoring the turbulence Reynolds tore away the outer paper package and unwrapped what was bundled within a canvas wrap.
Contained within were two sets of a mesh shirt, rather like a modern day chainmail, the sleeves were surrounded by flexible metal rings, with a small Ether cell on the left hip.

"Fair enough."
Removing his jacket he dons the archaic looking garment.
It takes him a while to sort out the buckles and fastenings.
"No wonder the Jocks are so bloody dour all the time having to battle this stuff before a fight!

Despite the comment he feels there is something scarily familiar about the armour.
Then curiosity gets the better of him and he turns the small switch on the ether cell.

As he activates the switch he feels a current flow through wires within the lining of his shirt, as it does the armour draws itself tightly across his shoulders and chest, as it does so the coiled rings interspace themselves the length of his arms.

Flattened telescopic tubes unfurl across his shoulder blades and down under his ribs, moving his arm Reynolds detects some form of amplification of his movement!

The Glasgow Express Crash Site Near Dunkeld
The Leader shook his head, pain raced the length of his back from where the explosion of raw ether had melted his armor.

Looking around he saw devastation everywhere, his techs dead some vaporized, a few of his men were still alive, then he located the source of his ere, a figure pulling a woman up the grassy slope on the far side of the fen.

He tapped his ethercom open, miraculously it was still intact and functional, crackling to life.

Sam brings the cruiser in slowly, keeping the ship just below the ridge line.
As they get within feet of the ground Reynolds opens the door and drops to the soft, heather covered hillside.
The sprint to the top leaves him breathless and takes marginally longer than expected. He looks back and in the shadows sees the lithe figure of Magnos closing in. He signals for Sam to go airborne again.
Peering back into the valley, lit with numerous fires now, he tries to take in what is happening.

From their landing place upon a hill it was hard to see clearly however he could pick out the sounds of men shouting and gunfire, to his left green luminscence flared within the clouds and men in armored suits held aloft by green lozenges upon their backs swept in over the fen.
Lady Magnos unslung a pair of carbines and handed one to Reynolds, concentrating he noted that the gunfire was concentrated at the north east end of the shallow valley, the smell of burning coal, wood and less savory cooking wafted their way.

A small explosion occurred on to their left which they soon identified was the wreckage of the train, dozens of fires burned along its length as well as improper scattered conflagrations across the fen.

***
Following Lord Reynolds initial orders she brought the cruiser up through the low lying cloud bank, watching as green flashes descended to the ships starboard bow, he started as a figure silently stepped from behind him, it was the man he had seen earlier completely alabaster white of complexion.
Wordlessly the man swung himself into the gunnery alcove and started to depress a number of levers and switches, as they broke through the ceiling of the cloud bank Sam hissed spying the source of the green lights.

Certainly no Royal Navy Dreadnaught the Zeppelin before them was still big enough, having disgorged the last of its payload towards the ground.
"Dawn and buggerations" cursed Sam

Scanning the scene Reynolds picked out a course through the darkness towards the carriages.

The old Laird would undoubtedly have been travelling in first class, that seemed the obvious place to look. If he wasn’t there, then that would likely mean the old fellow had likely escaped.

Reynolds felt sure that he would expect able to determine the most likely course the Laird would have taken given the outlook from that vantage point.

He’d move in short bursts, keeping to the darkness and cover as much as possible. With a nod to his companion he dashed over the brow of the hill towards a dark patch of ground he hoped indicated a hollow.

Frowning at the inconvenience the additional attackers were going to cause him he glanced about for any sign of the old Laird. He doubted there would be any but there was always some ludicrous quirk of chance that the old boy would randomly stumble into the hollow Reynolds now hid in.
After a few moments looking around he suddenly realised that Lady Magnos had not joined him.
Right now, he decided, she would have to fend for herself. He had a suspicious feeling that she would be able to handle herself in this situation. That realisation made him warm to her more.
"Come on old boy," he whispered, "mind back on the game!"

Displaying an almost inhuman level of visual acuity, Reynolds located the Laird relatively quickly.
The stupid old duffer was helping another person up the slope on the far slide of the depression, however his opponents were closing upon him fast.

To emphasis Reynolds observations gunfire shattered the crackling of the numerous fires and nighttime silence, at which point the Laird hunkered down and began to return fire!

Reynolds shimmied down into the dirt some more, ensuring he was out of sight and pulled his ether comm from his pocket. As he flipped it open it immediately displayed Sam's image. Nine times out of ten it would be his companion he would be calling so he'd set the device up to save himself time.
He frowned as the device quietly chimed the dialling tone.
"Come on Sammy boy, pick up old chap," he muttered into the darkness.
After several long drawn out seconds his batman finally answered.
"You pick your moments! Don't you know you shouldn't fly and use your comm at the same time?"
"There's no such bloody rule," the Viscount hissed in mock indignation.
"Sam I've spotted his Lairdship. He's under pressure at the moment so I'm going to create a distraction. McMasters is heading west so I'll try and lead the bad guys east. Some air cover would be great if you aren't otherwise occupied?"

The Glasgow Express Crash Site Near Dunkeld
Looking down upon the floating battleship, Sam almost breathed a sigh of relief.
"Be right with you sir" he deftly banked the shuttle starboard and looped into the thick cloud cover below, his silent alabastor companion didn't so much as grumble with the hairpin turn. Sam levelled the craft out accelerating out into a broad arc over the thick caladonian forests, his approach skimmed the tops of the trees.

Sam's time with the marines had taught him the rudimentals of zep piloting, however it had been his tours of duty with Reynolds that had graduated him to an expert pilot, plus his love of flying.

Etheric swirls solidified into signatures ahead of them in the forest, three smaller signatures and a groups of larger signatures.
"Ahem, our targets are the larger readings"
Silently Magnos's leutenant engaged the ships weapon systems.

***
McMasters winced as automatic fire narrowly missed them sent chunks of tree bark flying, his adrenalin was fading his injury beginning to sap his strength, the young woman was struggling along with her bairn, the only thing that appeared in his favour was that their pursuers might be trying to take him alive. he didn't fancy her chances though!

He had no such compulsions and sent some of his remaining v-prop rounds across the woodland, destroying trees and forcing them to take cover.
He helped her down a fern covered incline and they took a moment to catch their breaths, then the world behind them turned white.

Reynolds blinked rapidly, trying to dismiss the huge purple splotches that now covered his vision. The heat from whatever the hell explosion that had been was intense and the noise almost deafening.
Slowly the darkness returned and he was able to make out his surroundings again.
"My Lord?" he heard Sam's slightly nervous voice inquiring over the comm device.
"It's alright Sam, I'm still here. That was one hell of a distraction!"
Reynolds peered into the darkness to survey the scene.

how much devastation did that cause. I want to know if the Laird and the woman are on the far side of the blast. Hopefully it is just the attackers and me on this side?

Quickly regaining his sight Reynolds observed that a 20 yard area had been blasted to ashen stumps, nothing bigger than insects survived.

***
Peering up out of the hollow, McMasters wiped ash and dust from his goggles, he cautiously stood allowing the woman out from under the shield of his body. "Well awl be damned" he muttered

***
Sam sensed their elation might be short lived, as he pivoted the ship he observed the underside of the cloud bank turn golden red with the approaching dawn, as the light shone through the night clouds it sillouetted the bulk of the etherclad descending.
'These shitheads really mean business!' he grimaced